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Feb 29, 2012

"Badge of Shame" comedian Joe (from the hilarious Joe Goes ____ videos) is so adorably awkward. Especially when it comes to the ladies. Actually, I take that back. He's quite the charmer, it's the ladies that become awkward. I really admire how b*llsy he is. Admittedly, though, I doubt he'd quite so successful if it weren't for the camera. And by successful, I mean slap-free. Bonus points for the stolen kisses towards the end.

A new trailer dropped today for the Avengers, featuring the likes of a third iteration of the Hulk(With an odd accent), Thor, Captain America and Iron Man overcoming their differences and coming together to fight a common foe. The new trailer drops the fact that (for those who didn't wait till after the Thor credits) the trickster god Loki returns from the space abyss he dropped into to antagonize the Avengers, probably with the power of the cosmic cube and its dimensional powers. Here's to hoping that its not going to be another overly cookie cutter, by the numbers superhero movie!

As much as we've made fun of "bronies" and others who are way too obsessed with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on our podcasts, I still like those cute and colorful ponies. Part of it is nostalgia from my own childhood, and part of it is just simply because, well, they're cute and colorful. That's a RoboGal winning combo right there. Deviantartist milkydayy has come up with some rather awesome illustrations of human superheroines, each inspired by a different Pony character done in the style of Alphonse Mucha (Possibly rolling in his grave right now). 5 more after the break!

A few weeks ago, Gorillaz announced a new track would be dropping February 23rd; it did, and it is awesome. It's genuinely the most fun I've had with a song in a long time, of course, my Gorillaz fandom might be to blame for this. Today, we finally get to see the release of the accompanying music video, and it might be even more awesome than the song.

You've got to hand it to Jamie Hewlett, the guy has created some incredibly likeable characters with an awesome amount of back story, and it really shows with DoYaThing. The fact that I'm able to sit through a 4 minute music video revolving around an extraordinarily boring (yet highly unusual) morning routine, completely enamored, really tells a lot about the detail put into the characters.

Check out the break to see a brief making of! Also, if you're interesting you can also pick up some awesome limited edition Chucks featuring the Gorillaz over here.

A brilliant new piece of viral marketing just dropped in regards to Ridley Scott's Prometheus movie, set to be released in June. I didn't quite understand why Guy Pearce overacted so much while playing the Peter Weyland role (Of the iconic Weyland Wutani Corporation), but that aside putting him in a future TED talk is just a brilliant move towards constructing a credible world and of course hype around this movie. Can't bloody wait.

Feb 28, 2012

Niels Meulman is a graffiti artist from the Netherlands, showing off what can you do with a bucket of water, a broom, and talent. There's a simple beauty to his reliance on the bare minimum to create beautiful type. Kudos to Joia for sharing this.

Mickey Dujyz is an amazing artist devoted to the creation of pulp, retro looking illustrations. Born and raised in Detroit, Duzyj unleashed his talent while getting trained at the Manhattan School of Visual Arts. Before that he worked in assembly lines in his native Detroit and broke through via his awesome boxing illustrations based off of Mike Tyson.

His style is somehow reminiscent of the late 90's indie comicbook artists, Tomine, Clowes, and Ware included. Duzyj has collaborated with magazines such as Rolling stones and Esquire. After the break, a small sample of Mickey's talent, by far one of the most compelling illustrators we've presented you this year so far. Enjoy!

Jeff Simpson has the aesthetics of a traditional painter, but creates most of his work digitally to most peoples surprise. The Montreal based artist ended up at Ubisoft and had a chance to contribute to the most recent Assassins Creed: Revelations, but has enjoyed a burgeoning independent career with his incredible, ethereal illustrations. Its interesting that Jeff still manages to apply his unique painterly style to his concept art, going for a more expressive approach vs detail oriented one. Check out 9 more images after the break!

I've seen a million tilt shift projects since this blog started, but I never get tired of them. The concept of seeing reality turned into a miniature playset thanks to the power of a lens never fails to capture my attention. Two photographers, Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli set out to capture the annual festival of Carnaval in Rio, which typically takes place 46 days before Easter. The duo did a great job establishing the setting with some absolutely incredible shots overlooking the city and all the events leading up to the festival. The payoff is an awesome glimpse into an explosively colorful, synchronized celebration that puts Burning Man to shame in some regards.

This informational and heartwarming little short talks about how fish makes its way from the sea to sitting all pretty and delicious like on a nigiri. This project was created to promote a sustainable sushi restaurant in Oregon called 'Bamboo,' which relies on fishing methods that do not result in the depletion of certain species. The narrator threw me for a loop because I initially thought it was Leonard Nimoy, which blew my mind but didn't seem out of the realm of possibility (Remember his incredible Bruno Mars music video?). The actual voice actor turned out to be Jim Donaldson, and this 7 month project was directed by Vincent Peone.

After a dismal Monday, Johnny Neon came to the rescue with this upbeat music video for 'Hearts,' featuring a South African pup called Lemon wandering around on a sunny day and bringing cheer to various folks. Lesson learned: All you need for a sweet music video is a GoPro, an energetic dog and a shin guard(The DIY rig used to strap the camera onto Lemon's back).

Feb 27, 2012

A 4 min action scene/ trailer from Disney's new film John Carter, to be released next week, on March 8th. I'm starting to think that they dropped the 'From Mars' title possibly due to the fact that 'Mars Needs Moms' bombed insanely hard, perhaps focus group testing at work? After watching this odd gladiatorial scene, it looks like Mr. Carter's biggest nemesis turns out to be the concept of chains, not giant 4 armed white desert apes. I'm kind of concerned about the fact that a massive budget action movie is going to be released in March of all months(A typically terrible month for movies), which usually doesn't bode well for the quality of a film. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether or not this scifi entry by Disney is worth its salt.

I just found out about Caravan Palace, and its just the type of upbeat music that helps Mondays flow a little better (Spotify is your friend). This animated trailer for one of their upcoming tracks from their new March 5 album, 'Panic' embodies their style in a nutshell. I'm going to call it dappercore, but according to their website the consider themselves 'Electroswing & Gypsy Jazz,' sampling classic sounds from the 20's and 30's and giving them a modern twist. The best part about these guys is that they originally got their start creating soundtracks for 'silent' Adult movies in 2005. Mind=blown. Check out a sample track and the cover to their upcoming album after the break!

It's the day after the Oscars, and the internet is abuzz with discussion of last night's winners, the fashion, and memorable moments (Angelina Jolie was sure, um, working that stage). During one of our previous podcasts, we discussed our thoughts on the Oscar nominations. We felt that a lot of great movies were looked over, in favor of typical Oscar bait. This video is pretty well in-line with what I felt to be the Oscar Snubs of 2012.

The music is a little cheesy (though it does sound very Oscar-ish, so I suppose it's appropriate). Once you get to the 1:46 mark, you'll see what is, in my opinion, the most blatant Oscar oversight of all. And, is it just me, or are titles that start with "The" becoming more and more popular? The Artist, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Iron Lady, The Help, The Descendants...etc. What were your thoughts on this years winners and losers?

This somewhat unsettling piece of performance art was created as a collaboration between Paris Kain and a London based performance artist known as 'Number 8.' The performance explores the theme of metamorphosis and rebirth via fire, using an abstract symbol of a rose. I'm not going to try and read too much into the meaning of these works because these pieces were experimental in nature, captured using the power of RED cameras. Despite that, they're definitely some visually compelling pieces.

Denmark's Animation Workshop has unleashed a barrage of excellent short animated films recently, with the biggest buzz being generated by the viral magnet known as Space Stallions. We also featured The Backwater Gospel, which used some unorthodox techniques to create a 2.5D art style that oozed personality and perfectly fit the tone of that town. This fresh short known as 'Load' felt perfect for Monday, with its narrative of a man overburdened by work in a dystopian world setting out on a strange quest to free himself. I really loved the somber tone and how they chose to visually represent the concept of burden, with a man buried in a suit of sticky notes. Can't wait to see what the school puts out next.

Feb 26, 2012

The Aquabats. Fighters of evil, defenders of the good and righteous and television stars? If you've never heard of the Aquabats, they're definitely worth checking out for their upbeat tunes. The Aquabats are an American indie rock-band who's schtick involves being superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music. The band has a massive stageshow not only involving music, but segments including battling super villains on stage before they can rock out harder than two rocks bashing onto the side of a mountain. That's pretty rock!

The band has been working on a television special for years and the results should pay off, especially with Mega64 working hard on the show! I'm excited, but I love cartoons and superheroes. Behind this beard is the heart of a British 8 year old with a bowl of cereal ready for cartoons. But now I can enjoy that cereal with a fresh can of beer. The show airs Saturday March 3 at 11am ET / 8am PT on The Hub. Check it out!

We really enjoyed Gotye's 2011 track 'Easy Way Out,' from their Making Mirrors album, and even posted a version with an unofficial animated music video sometime last October. However the official music video is finally out featuring a continuous, revolving shot showing a man's monotonous, cyclical life going down in flames over time. Seeing that BECK hasn't been up to much, Gotye's familiar sample heavy sound has been there to fill that void and continue evolving it.

Pillo and Plico are two moon-dwelling armadillos (they look like rotten potatoes to me, but I think it adds to their charm) that spend their time watching the footage of man's first steps on the moon. They have a dream of meeting Neil Armstrong, and try to find a way to get to Earth. Their mission to build a rocket that would take them goes adorably wrong. It's the classic story of two rather dim-witted, uh, "beings" bumbling through a task. This Brazilian student project has an awesome integration of both stop-motion and animation.

Barry X Ball is an American artist based in NY, with some sculpture work that I truly found remarkable. Some of his best work in my opinion includes his black marble sculpture series and busts based on classical themes.

At first I thought these were resin cast sculptures, somehow 3d printed and then painted, but it turns out they are made of one of the most exotic stones around the world. After the break, you can check out a few more images of Barry's work. Pay special attention to the sleeping girl sculpture, which is in fact all made in stone, mattress and everything.

I was unfortunate engough to stumble onto this quality clip of yellow journalism, featuring Lou Dobbs and a bunch of incompetent idiots making the case on how these 'liberal' movies are indoctrinating children into hating capitalism. Now here's what f***ing pisses me off the most : First of all, odds are they never bothered to watch the movies, yet alone research the fact that these movies are based off of books from decades ago (Lorax in 1971, Arrietty is based off the Borrowers from 1952) that were widely accepted as 'moral books.' This entire conversation between Dobbs and his cronies is a barrage of verbal diarrhea that is nothing short of infuriating, especially considering that some parents might actually take heed to this nonsense.

I'd easily say that Fox are the guys with the agenda here, taking a stab at the Lorax due to the fact that Chris Meledandri defected from 20th Century Fox Animation to create his own studio after Horton Hears A Who! And guess what Chris' new studio, Illumination Entertainment is working on? You guessed it, The Lorax. The fact that this idiot would attempt to damage a movie which took countless thousands of hours of work prior to its release with baseless accusations is what bugs me the most.

Feb 25, 2012

Neil Blomkamp would be proud. This amazing video by Factory Fifteen tells the tale of an alternate, post apocalyptic earth ravaged by nuclear war and one man's recollection of the cleanup efforts by a group known as 'GAMMA.' Its a tale of corporations trying to profit off of cleanup efforts with ineffective, cheap methods (Dubbed as 'nuke roots') that actually end up damaging the landscape even further. In a way it kind of reminded me of the miraculous powers of the 'GECK' from Fallout 2 (Kudos to you if you remember this), which I remember spending 60-70 hours searching for and wondering what type of miracles it could do for my dying village.

This cautionary scifi tale/faux documentary was actually shot on location in Ukraine and Kazakhstan on real fallout sites including Chernobyl to give it a more authentic feel. I especially loved how they weaved the monologue of one of the victims into the visual narration of the damage that the whole 'nuke root' initiative had caused. Check out the making of GAMMA and some concept art/stills after the break! Love it.

Ladronn is one of the many talented French 'bande desinee' (French phrase for comic book) artists that most Western audiences really are not aware of. When I had a chance to visit Paris briefly I was nothing short of stunned at how many amazing, high quality comic books were being independently produced and distributed directly to the public. Its a system reminiscent of how the Japanese approach manga, in which its all about the artist and their creations, not the publisher.

Well that aside I recently ran into Ladronn's work, which really embodies the style that most French comic books have compared to say, a comic by Marvel. Its kind of hard to place but I'd say its a 50% drawn line/50% painterly approach that I really love. I'm not sure if Ladronn worked on the recent animated Incal reboot that we posted, but a lot of his work seems to pay tribute to the classic Moebius/Jodorowsky collaboration. Check out more of his art after the break, including his work on Hip Flask, Jonah Hex and the Hulk.

I have become a huge fan of HBO's Game of Thrones (I'm reading the books now). Based on my previous posts, I believe that goes without saying. As frustrating as it is to have to wait an entire year for the new season to start, I think it's definitely going to be well worth it. All of the teaser trailer and bit clips from the past were amazing, but this rather long trailer just takes it to the next level. April 1 can't come fast enough!

When Steve Jobs was alive, the Apple CEO was well known for his signature look of jeans white trainers with a black turtle neck sweater. It seems this advertisement is paying 'tribute' to his look but with a certain twist.

This advert from a company named 'Action Electronics' features an angelic “Steve Jobs” type character shilling Taiwanese tablets. Angel wings? Halo? These things seem to be presenting more of a satirical look at the former iconic CEO, but Apple has been pretty zero tolerance regarding the use of Steve Job's image in the past, even in tribute or homage. In April of last year the company sent out a cease and desist order for a iPhone case paying tribute to Steve Jobs in carbonite and put pressure on the company who produced the Steve Jobs doll to stop production. The weird thing is that the 'bootlegging' of personas has been going on for nearly two years now overseas. Check out three more examples after the break!

Feb 24, 2012

More than likely, it's probably towards the end of your school or work day. It's Friday, and time to unwind with some drinks. Or other relaxing substances. Get yourself situated as such, then please sit down and watch this. It will really enhance the experience of this retro-futuristic clip with mind blowing graphics and tons of glorious kitties. Enjoy the weekend!

In the 6th Awesome installment of our fine podcast, we discuss the major events that happened on the blog over the last few weeks, Titanic 3D, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Whitney Houston and gravy boats, the epic Star Wars rant we recieved, Universal Studios impressions, Tim Burtons awful video, Blizzar's DOTA Lawsuit, Resident Evil Revelations/6/Racoon City and more! Unicornsexists (Daniel) joins us finally after a 4 podcast absence to bring back his 'incredible' signature British dry humor.

These male superstuds superheroes look pretty damn silly dressed in scantily clad, asset-baring attire. Naturally, it would be even funnier if they weren't so amazingly ripped, maybe some pot-bellies here and there, but I digress. An artist known as fernacular created a small series of some of the more notable superheroes dressed in costumes more familiar with their female counterparts.

Part of the reason why it was made, was to make a point about how silly some female superhero costumes can be. Obviously they're enjoyed by many, even I can appreciate an exceptionally good-looking lady (even if drawn). But perhaps they go overboard just a wee bit sometimes? Something to think about. While I wanted to post this partly for that aspect, I mostly just found them amusing.

Feb 23, 2012

We've previously posted both teaser and full trailers of Disney Pixar's newest film, Brave, to be released in June. Now we're treated to a full two and half minute clip! An archery contest is underway, where the winner is awarded Princess Merida's hand in marriage. Something unexpected happens, something not to her liking. She doesn't to (literally) take matters into her own hands.

Aside from the animation looking absolutely wonderful, I'm curious to see how the story will play out. The kick-ass, and good-looking heroine character isn't always executed well. Though I'm a fan of shying away from the demure, damsel-in-distress characters that were so prevalent in earlier films (though admittedly less so in the last 10-15 years), sometimes it's just so over the top. And I'm not even referring to just Disney, or even animation in general. I'm really looking forward to this film; June can't come soon enough!

I just got my DOTA 2 key last week, and was enthralled to jump into the successor to the classic Warcraft III mod that took the world by storm, enjoying giving champions like Dazzle (Our mascot for podcast 5) and Shadow Shaman a run. The last few weeks though have been somewhat of a rollercoaster for relations between Valve and Blizzard, two massive companies that are now at blows over a mod that has spawned an entire genre of games over the last few years: League Of Legends, Heroes Of Newerth, Rise Of Immortals, Demigod, Realm Of The Titans and somewhat related, Bloodline Champions.

Since Blizzard announced their oddly named 'Blizzard DOTA' entry last October while Valve's DOTA 2 beta was in full swing, relationships between the two companies have spiraled from simply passive aggressive into a major legal battle brewing with lots of grey area to be had. If you're interested in hearing an analysis of the current events and legal claims, check out more after the break!

French indie group Yuksek delivered an awesome music video featuring some of the best use of mirroring I've probably ever seen. The single is from Yuksek's 'Living On The Edge Of Time,' which was released last summer. I sometimes find myself wondering why most groups don't release music videos first to get even more hype before the album drops. The addition of visuals can elevate an otherwise ok track to all new heights, something I've noticed after a year or two of scouring for music to post on the blog.

Lately I've been having trouble getting to sleep at a reasonable hour (not that you care), and I haven't quite found how to force myself to sleep earlier. Thankfully, Samuel L. Jackson has come to save the day (or night), telling all of us to "go the F*ck to sleep". This songified version of Samuel L. Jackson's reading is now my favorite thing ever. May I suggest going to sleep after listening to this?

Feb 22, 2012

What if Daft Punk's music was originally composed for 8 bit systems? Thats what the chiptune collective known as 'Da Chip' set out to accomplish, translating classic Daft Punk tunes into crunchy 8 bit adaptations. Da Chip! II is the second compilation of this series, with the original being released in 2009. So if you're in the mood for some epic retro versions of your favorite Daft Punk tracks, check out the playlist below!

This quirky music video featuring Santigold is one heck of a trip, although visually its just about 100% unrelated to the feel good song from Spankrock's fun 2011 album: 'Everything Is Boring and Everyone is a F***ing Liar.' Thats a mouthful. The music video culminates with two blondes covering each other in blue paint in a somewhat tasteful manner, but I'd still call its NSFW.

In the shoe advertising market, particularly in the tech-spec section, I have to say that Nike always takes things to the next level. Not only in the science and the technology behind the actual construction of a running shoe, but also in the creative ways that Nike is constantly marketing them.

While other brands focus their efforts on the lifestyle and urban appeal aspects of their sneakers (Which I think Adidas/Puma are far ahead of any competitors) Nike uses strong campaigns in their different sneaker lines, but always puts that little extra that makes you think that they have the latest, end-of-days technology for lightweight seamless well designed running shoes... until they do it again a couple of years later. Remember our Hyperfuse post?

This added to the Pre-Olympics frenzy makes the perfect marketing formula for what seems to be a solid, appealing and very well marketed shoe. I was trying to find the company/studio behind the marvelous execution of this video to no avail, so if anyone has any info on the guys behind the video we'll gladly update this post.

As usual another cool short video after the break explaining the timeline and story on the creation of this new technology, after the break. Enjoy!

This is an absolutely beautiful animated piece. A group of airplanes from around the world fly in to Burma together, to give a gift of flowers as a sign of support and solitary for the Burmese people, who are still enduring some pretty terrible hardship. It's a heartwarming message, and the animation along with the choice of adding classical music (Chopin I believe) is nothing short of stunning.

I watched this video in awe: I just couldn't believe that this was an official Microsoft video. Yet lo and behold, it was and today Microsoft has fired its initial salvo against Google and its cloud-based Google Apps products. The video, “Beware the Googlighting Stranger,” is a (Edit: f***ing terrible) response to Google’s cloud-based productivity suite.

The description asks: "What happens when the world’s largest advertising business tries to sell productivity software on the side?” and it's true. I remain neutral as I haven't tried out the system or used Google outside of searching or as a web-browser but the video does raise a good point as to why the cloud-based applications aren't hitting off; Google Office doesn't work offline. Microsoft office however, does.

Though I find the biggest piece in the irony cake is Microsoft slamming Google on Youtube, which is owned by Google. Ballsy in concept, but marred by the absolutely terrible execution.

Feb 21, 2012

Time seems to go by faster and faster, because it seems like I just did the Tuesday Cute Mixtape yesterday. But alas, here we are again. Happy Tuesday, everyone! If you had a 3-day weekend like we did, then Happy "Monday".

I think my week just got made, again...February, you're absolutely kicking ass musically! Nero's fresh music video for 2011's awesome 'Must Be The Feeling' delivers an orgasmically retrofuturistic rush of visual stimuli, drawing bits and pieces from Bladerunner and Drive to create my favorite music video of this year so far.

The addition of the retro supercar is an awesome touch as well, that being the beautifully rare DeTomaso Pantera GT5 ripping up the streets of this dystopian city. Its a shame that these guys are still mainly based out of the UK, but you can still pick up their excellent album that put them on the map, 'Welcome Reality!'

I recently ran into the webpage of the art collective known as 'GOVERDOSE,' a group of digital artists with the goal of showcasing their own unique takes on a common theme. The group is based out Poland, with a stable of 27 local artists collaborating on the core project, which already has a massive amount of images. The theme of their first project? Death, which they have titled 'I Kill You.'

Their website is an experience in itself, a slickly designed interface with well crafted ambient music which really made browsing the gallery really enjoyable. Check out two more images from Mateusz Sypien's take on the theme, which he titled 'Prime Time' after the break! And go check out their website for the massive gallery!

Despite WB having put yet another hold on the Akira movie to trim the budget even further, down from the already cut $90,000,000 budget approved in October 2011, it sure hasn't stopped some fans from concepting what a movie like this might look like. This teaser by Fabien Dubois has all the elements I'd expect from a westernized adaptation of Otomo's classic post apocalyptic tale. Take it as you will, but I've chosen not get my hopes up for what this movie is going to turn out like.

On that note, I'd definitely recommend checking out Chronicle if you haven't had a chance to. I think just about everyone here agreed that its the closest thing to Akira on Western shores, including an unlikely villian so reminiscent of Tetsuo that it kind of blew our minds. It was a surprisingly good movie despite being released during the typically awful movie months of Jan-March.

This fun faux cartoon for a fictional series (That I wish was real) was created by Youtube user Cosmitron as an animation to accompany a guitar piece he created called 'Captain Brazil.' This 70's flavored animation pays tribute to the likes of Mexican wrestling legends like El Santo and exploitation cinema from back in the day, with its copious booty/cleavage shots. Who will win?

Feb 20, 2012

I discovered 23 Lunes a year or two back, when they released an ad for a medication for hair lice or something of that sort that garnered a ton of attention in the 3D world. Unlike most ads for such products this one ad had art direction, pleasing aesthetics and a little story. If there's one thing I hate with a passion it's those generic ads for bizarre medications, featuring footage of 'perfect' families having BBQ's, throwing around a football and looking all happy while the narrator reads off a list of 900 deadly side effects.

23 Lunes' stands out as a design and animation studio by actually trying to develop little stories, design appealing characters and give their ads a little soul unlike their competition. The Spanish studio has been ever growing since that early ad for NEOSitrin (That hair medication), which you can check out after the break!

In this fun animated short, a tribesman comes across a hunter's camp where he quickly becomes the prey. Soon, a chase begins, and the hunter becomes the hunted. The question here is, who is the real beast, the hunter or the tribesman? With the hunter depicted as very gorilla-like, I think the answer is fairly obvious. What do you think?

Cyriak pointed me towards this video, which absolutely blew me away with its epic choreography and otherworldly battles and M. Night Shyamalan worthy twists. On the way to meet their 'Nan,' two British folks meet a giant kitten in an alley which results in an epic brawl featuring multiplying kittens, paw attacks, explosions and lots of KO's. Absolutely loved it, so don't forget to check out their other sketches on their Youtube channel, Guksack!

Feb 19, 2012

Fernando Livschitz directed this bizarrely amazing video featuring theme park rides composited into downtown Buenos Aires seamlessly. I'm not sure how they managed to do it seamlessly, but I imagine it took an insane amount of time to match up the lighting and motion track all the different elements here. The short film was created as an ad for Black Sheep Films, an Argentinian based motion graphics house.

Eliza is a graphic designer with a BA in Japanese literature, and even if it sounds completely unrelated, you can tell by the way she draws that oriental influences are definitely in play here.When looking at her work there is this really ''ligne claire'' Tezuka style, with some pin up Alphonse Mucha style poses. Hell, I even get 70's Esteban Maroto vibes from her work/

I guess one of the things I found compelling about her illustrations is that sort of contemporary look mixed with certain timelessness. As usual more images after the break. As we say in Chile, disfrute! (Enjoy)

After having been already released in the rest of the world within the last couple of years, the newest Studio Ghibli film finally made it's North American debut on Friday, February 17. The Secret World of Arrietty, a film based on the Mary Norton novel The Borrowers, is one of the more understated Studio Ghibli films. While films like Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away had a more epic feel, Arrietty feels a bit more downplayed in it's sense of adventure, and more gentle in it's storytelling.

It works beautifully though, because that's the world of the Arrietty and her family: A house and backyard is, to us, simply that. But to them, it seems to be endlessly huge. Once again, Studio Ghibli does not disappoint. This is a beautiful, dreamy film that left us in a serene yet happy state. If you're in North America, I highly recommend making a trip to the movie theater. Otherwise, DVD versions have already been released in Japan and the UK.

The Parisian DJ Zebra just recently released this mashup of two classic tracks: New Order's 'Blue Monday' and The Stooges 'I Wanna Be Your Dog.' This frankensteining of tracks (DJ Zebra's self proclaimed specialty) features some awesome, and related visuals from Wallace and Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.

Feb 18, 2012

What happens when you set out to create a version of 'Sh** (Insert Person Or Group) Says' with Batman and it doesn't quite work out in the streets of Toronto? You get this masterpiece, featuring Batman wandering around terrorizing people in Toronto, yelling out nearly impossible to understand phrases in that scruffy voice that we've come to know and hate in the Nolan series. "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!"

I just discovered the amazing work of Lazerhawk, a one man outfit from Austin that I instantly fell in love with. I thought Kavinsky had pretty good 80's throwback electro, but Lazerhawk brings in so much more complexity and intensity into his tracks. You can spot the influences here, mainly retro synthpop and elements of Italo Disco masterfully emulated to create an intense ode to everything that in my opinion, was good about the 80's. This Austin based artist has been hard at work refining his sound, so I'd recommend you check out the excellent album the track above is from 2011's Redline, take a listen to his recent works on Soundcloud, and give him a much deserved like on Facebook!

If you are in a sh*tty mood, I think I have just the video for you to perk you up. This adorably fun musical animated short has an awesome 1920's vibe, reminiscent of Steamboat Mickey and other animations of that era. In a bit of a role reversal, a flea is head of a traveling dog circus.

Feb 17, 2012

It's that time again! The Humble Bundle is a bundle of indie games that can be brought for a price of your choice. This time the money can be shared between Child's Play, Electronic Frontier, charity: water & The American Red Cross. The incentive? Two games that have yet to be completed that will be created before your eyes. The indie studios Mojang (Minecraft), Oxeye Game Studios, and Wolfire Games are working together to create a game within the timespan of a weekend and they're going to live stream every second of the glory and the drama through twitch.tv on the Humble Bundle site.

Mojang and Wolfire will be tackling a real-time strategy shoot 'em up, with a steampunk, ancient Egypt theme whilst Oxeye Game Studios is crafting a dungeon crawler beat 'em up set in a post-apocalyptic World War II. Sounds interesting to say the least. If you've ever wanted to see what the leadup to a deadline in a video game studio looks like or you just have an interest in how the coding process works, I suggest you take a look. It's interesting stuff and it's for charity!

Considering that Nicolas Cage came out last year and announced the secret to his unique acting style, known as 'Noveau Shamanic,' a few of us here at AwesomeRobo have been following his work more than ever. His whole technique of silent whispering followed by Tourettes-esque outburts has kept us spellbound in fine movies like Drive Angry, Ghost Rider and Season Of The Witch. This excellent compilation by Movie Masterclass presents 100 of his finest quotes as a 'masterclass' presentation of his unique acting style. His 'mad hacker priest' performance from Faceoff was one of his most memorable performances in decades, in my humble opinion.

I just discovered Skifcha recently..A mysterious Russian cat who hides behind hipster paper glasses and appears to enjoy dubstep, as well as lurking Eastern European country sides in a most mysterious fasion. The cat has one hell of a following overseas, with its most recent video getting close to 900,000 views in just 2 days. Why does Skifcha need to hide her identity? We're going to be keeping a close eye on this cat on its Facebook page.

An artist known as Donald Yatomi, a freelancer based out of Oregon recently did an art dump of concept art for Twisted Metal 3 on his art blog. David Jaffe's long awaited followup to the vehicular combat franchise came out a few days ago, and I'm pretty excited to give it a run seeing that I haven't touched the series since the Playstation 1 days. Its been getting mixed reviews, but the hybrid gameplay seems interesting enough to warrant the $60 price tag, and this genre has been deserted for ages now. Check out another ten production art pieces after the break!

Imagine waking up next to your friend, naked and confused. You both recount similar, yet different nightmares. Then you realize that they somehow connect to one another, in a most awkward way. The guys over at Booya Pictures put on an awesome skit showing just how well that would play out. Not really NSFW for the most part, just the innuendo. Bonus for the twist at the end.

Feb 16, 2012

Ofra Lapid is an Israeli Artist who lives and works in Tel Aviv. This series of beautiful miniature recreations were created by reinterpreting photographs another artist took of decaying structures and decrepit buildings in North Dakota.

Ofra uses the photographs to build architectural scale models of run down houses, abandoned warehouses, neglected structures etc. These models are then rephotographed and shown as evidence of time, and economical and social shifts on the urban mesh. In this case, this set of miniatures are based off of the midwest. Five more images after the break!

This is one of the most relaxing, beautiful, and awe-inspiring videos I've seen in a long time. This video seems almost too perfect to be real, but rest assured, it is. It's the the result of thousands of 20-30 second exposures. edited together for a wonderful time-lapse. The Aurora and meteors were exceptionally gorgeous. Even though something like this can't be seen by the naked eye, it makes me want to go find a secluded field somewhere, lay down and watch the sky, in the hopes that I'll see something a fraction of what this video shows.

I've nearly lost count of how many times we've featuredDan Hipp on Awesomerobo since we started, but you know what? I really don't care because A)He's a machine B)His ideas and mashups are always incredibly entertaining. Since I last checked his blog he's probably added over 40 new images, including the Mario/Drive crossover up top. I've just been kept wondering, when is he finally going to start making shirts? His style would lend itself so well to a shirt line. Anyways, check out a smattering of new images from his latest works after the break!

Kirby Ferguson has been working on his 'Everything Is A Remix' series for over a year now, simply trying to showcase how creativity on the most part, is a derivative process. One inspiration leads to a new creation, and that creation goes on to inspire yet another creation. Kirby's formula is as follows for techniques related to invention: Copying, transforming, and combining to create something new. Its a fascinating look at how people regards ideas as property, even though they were probably derived from something else at some point. You can check out part 1-3 of the series after the break if its your first time hearing of this series.

These interesting posters were created by a New Zealand artist simply known as 'James' to showcase iconic superheroes abstracted into their most basic shapes and colors. Looking through these images I kept getting flashbacks of fighting Andross from the original Starfox. Its a clever form of minimalism which has been attempted before, but rarely executed this well. James is selling these posters for $20 a pop on his website, Polygon Heroes. Check out six more examples after the break!

Turbowolf is one hell of a hard band to categorize, considering how many influences they bring into each of their tracks. Psychedelic, distorted rock with a punk attitude and a smattering of electro thrown in for good measure? Something like that, but it works oh so well. This excellent track and music video directed by Ewan Jones Morris & Casey Raymond is a whirlwind of insane retro cyberpunk imagery that hits all the right notes on a cloudy Thursday. Absolutely incredible, and I think this might just be one of my new favorite bands. Check them out on Facebook!

Launching in May, the comic will feature fan-favorite villains the Borg and the Cybermen as they create an unholy alliance resulting in potential disaster for all humanity. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise find themselves joining forces with the Doctor and his companions, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance. The series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, the authors of Star Trek: Infestation, with Doctor Who comic writer Tony Lee, and will feature artwork by J.K. Woodward (Fallen Angel).

Seems good so far but it has me wondering; will it be classic Cybermen or the new types? The Borg were actually based off the original Cybermen (in the original 1960 series, based off the fear of the advancements of surgery) where as the new series Cybermen (introduced in the 2006 reboot and were not quite as symbolic and scary) seem to copy plenty of aspects from the Borg, though that isn't a turn off. It's just very meta, though one should expect that from a Doctor Who/Star Trek cross-over.

Several days ago, we posted two documentaries by Jamie Benning about the making of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes back. He recently came out with his third Star Wars making-of fan documentary, about The Return of the Jedi. Similar to his other documentaries, this one includes trivia, deleted scenes, and commentary from cast and crew in the same awesome feature length, 'enhanced' format. Enjoy!

I've been a life-long fan of the Oz world (the first book, a few different movies), so I always have to stop and look whenever I see anything regarding Dorothy or any of the Oz characters. These are a somewhat gritty, somewhat somber take on the characters (though the story is actually kinda dark anyways). The one of Dorothy makes me giggle a little, because I'm thinking "I just need to getaway for a while", tornado hits, "LOL, JK!". Check out the rest of Amber Seegmiller's work on her Flickr.

Ever had one of those days at work which were frustrating to the point of giving you murderous psychic powers? Ever woken up in a bathtub full of popcorn and found yourself in a desperate battle with a submerged hobo with the hots for you? This upbeat music video for Math The Band's 8 bit flavored track features all of the above and then some. If you're in need of a high energy shot to the senses, look no further.

I was absolutely blown away when I landed on TokyoGoodIdea, the website of Takanori Aiba's works. The Japanese artist combined two of his passions together to create an absolutely beautiful new medium, miniature work and bonsai tree curation. Takanori's message about showcasing the relationship and need for harmony between human architecture and nature in miniature is nothing short of genius. Check out seven more of his incredibly detailed miniature masterpieces after the break!

Forcing myself into college directly after High School was one of the most difficult things I've ever experienced (but I managed). The issue wasn't that I disliked school, it was the fact that schools in my area just didn't know how to advertise themselves as a worthwhile experience.

Strangely enough, kids, school can be fun, but it's never really advertised as such.

Luckily, Henry & Aaron know precisely how to make Australia's Central Institute of Technology come off as the most magical time of your life, all the way up to the bitter end . . . A tragic and gory bitter end.

Feb 14, 2012

In an unfortunate screw up by a Motion Capture Animator, God of War 4 may have been outed via LinkedIn (we've removed the link to prevent Mr/Mrs. Anonymous from getting into trouble). While nothing is confirmed yet, it's looking extremely likely that Kratos will be making his way back from Hell, for like . . . the third time. How incredibly and utterly unsurprising. Don't worry though, you don't have to act surprised if the game is officially announced, after the success the franchise has seen, it shouldn't really come as a shock.

While a fourth entry in the series isn't much to be surprised about, I'm extremely interested to see who The God of War is going to be pissed at this time. Perhaps he finds himself thrown through time only to find himself raging over the sad state of television (one can dream). Honestly though, do we really need another entry?

Happy Valentine's Day, blog friends! Whether you're single or taken, have plans tonight or none, take a moment to stop and enjoy the sights of our adorable furry friends to warm you right up! 6 more after the break!

This cool video showcases a collab between two European graffiti powerhouses, Ironfortress and the Vienna based Nychos to create a piece called 'The Anatomy Of Motherbear Giving Birth.' Both artists are known for their clean and detailed graffiti style, so this collab was nothing short of epic. Check out the final image below!

Yaporigami, a Japanese based glitch artist delivers with this absolutely incredible collab between himself and Daihei Shibata, who provided the terrifying visuals synched up to the dissonant noise. The visuals and sound of thismusic video gave me some incredibly strong 'Tetsuo The Ironman' vibes. This new track is from Yaporigami's newest release, 'Jade Fib,' which you can purchase on Bandcamp!

Because it's Lovey-Dovey Day (the official name, from here on out), we thought it only right that we give you, our beloved readers, a sweet Valentine. Though we try to show our love year-round, we wanted to take the time to go that extra mile today. And what better way, then with a series of Valentine's based off of one the best book and TV series of all time? Okay, we may have seen these on the Twitter of our good friend, Nathan Evers. But it's the thought that counts, right? DC-based artist and illustrator Chris Bishop nailed these Game of Thrones inspired cards.

Capturing natural motion is difficult, but when you're Cloxboy, you say f*ck natural motion and go absolutely crazy. Cloxboy's work manages to capture an amazing amount of motion that seems to push each piece off your monitor and into your room. Despite the unnatural looking motion in each of his works, they still manage to come off more natural than anyone would hope for. The subtle horror in each image quickly becomes more terrifying as your mind begins to piece together each work, it's seriously awesome.

Hit the jump for 10 more seriously awesome Cloxboy pieces. Also, check out his DeviantArt!

We've been following Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for a few months now, ever since Seth Grahame-Smith started releasing his interesting mashups of classics and historical tales interwoven with horror elements. Remember 'Pride And Prejudice And Zombies?' Well, the surprisingly well written followup to that featured a tale of Abraham Lincoln and his vendetta again vampires, who were responsible for the death of his mother.

This trailer kind of surprised me because it doesn't take a campy approach or feature Abraham Lincoln delivering terrible one liners like, 'YOU'VE BEEN EMANCIPATED.' It actually looks like a dark, well directed film that actually might take itself somewhat seriously despite the somewhat campy concept. I'm a little wary about Tim Burton's involvement as a producer considering his last few movies, but I'm sure that having Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Nightwatch) at the directorial helm will ensure that this movie is at least pretty damn entertaining. My expectations were at Van Helsing levels for this one, but this trailer definitely blew those expectations away.

Feb 13, 2012

Matt is a UK based graphic designer with a really interesting and varied portfolio showcasing his graphic sensibilities. His work has been published mostly in printed media, and he's also gained a handful of gallery exhibitions under his belt.

With a very simple, clear lineart style, Matt style reminds me in some ways about the old comic book giants, (mainly Kirby and Ditko) with vibrant colors and some old school themed illustrations. His influences range from old west imagery, found photos and wild life. Full info and works on his webpage. And as usual, a small selection of his awesome images after the break!

We LOVE Lego here at Awesome-Robo so the fact this exists has quite a few of us very excited. This year, the Avengers will not only assemble on the big screen as a big, huge Hollywood blockbuster movie but will also be the 'Assembly Required' toy that parents loathe. Though revealed at ComicCon last year, we now have our first good look at this collection. Who wants to bet that this is already being turned into a Lego game?

If I can make one criticism, it seems that Iron Man could have used some work; his helmet head is huge! Weight proportion my Lego buddy! If you like Lego, you can check out the Lego forms of Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, a quinjet and more after the break!

Mimi Page, an emerging singer-songwriter, has come out with an awesome cover of Skyrim's Dovohkiin. It's a really beautiful, ethereal cover, one that's super relaxing to listen to. Her style is self-described as down-tempo electronic, dream pop. And dreamy, it definitely is. Take a look at her Youtube page for more of her amazing work, or over at her website. Her debut album will be released tomorrow, February 14th!

Melissa Ann, who goes by the moniker of 'Fractured Porcelain' recently sent us some of her photography, featuring some really unsettling and fascinating photos of abandoned psychiatric wards, castles and other various buildings. What always fascinates me about these places is that there are always things left behind, not limited to furniture, equipment, documents and other 'artifacts' which help urban explorers piece together a story about the past of these places. I'm going to be looking out for some abandoned complexes to go explore and photograph after seeing these awesome images. Check out more work from Fractured Porcelain after the break!

This fun series of of enhanced photos by Diego Agullo feature frozen scenes of somewhat comical death faces. Using that Cinemagraph technique that Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg made famous a while back for their fashion photos, these types of image series have been popping up quite a bit online. Some people might argue that these are simple gifs, but it actually takes quite a bit of work to composite animated parts onto otherwise static images. Diego and his female friend, Agata Siniarska created another series of these called 'Fingering,' but I'll leave it up to you guys to check it out if you want because it nearly cost me my lunch.

This colorful, animated music video for a remix to Bonobo's excellent and ridiculously chill 2010 track, 'Eyesdown' features a Dr. Frankenstein of sorts attempting to assemble a new entity. Anthony Schepperd did an awesome job animating this 3 minute remix, which is filled with colorful, geometric, angular imagery. If you'd like to check out the excellent original remix, please check out Bonobo's original track after the break!

I thought it was about time I showcased more of Yasmine Surovec's awesomely adorable comic work (see some of our posts regarding her awesome work here and here). In this edition of Cat vs Human, she shows us the little things that stress her out. If I had a sweet kitteh, I'd probably be freaking out along those same lines. But alas, I don't. So instead, I choose to stress about being in a store that's about to close, and feeling incredibly rushed. Don't forget to take a peek over at Yasmine's blog, if you haven't already done so!

Feb 12, 2012

An artist known as JShea (check out his blog!) sculpted a wonderfully vintage-looking "robot" playing a very classic game, pinball. It was created for Chicago-based OhNo!Doom's gaming-related art show, Super Button Smashers. Seeing that RoboBrain is a huge pinball fanatic, this might have given me an idea for a future birthday present. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just mysterious like that. Anywho, if you're in the Chicago area, check out the Super Button Smashers show this weekend!

What happens when Diplo & Don Diablo send off a promo tape to Zanger Rinus & Romana? Wait, who the hell are those guys? Turns out that they're stars of an absolutely 'so bad its good' trainwreck of a viral Youtube video called 'Rinus And Romana On A Scooter.' Lets just say sh** gets out of hand in the best way possible.

We haven't been shy about our disapproval of the decision to re-release the Star Wars prequels to theaters (now in 3D). That said, if the prequels do well, and the originals end up being released somewhere down the road, that would be kinda sweet. The originals are certainly classics, and while there is definitely no shortage of fan tributes out there, we thought these movie posters by Christopher Lee pretty awesome.

Feb 11, 2012

We featured Good Sport's music video for Pushover back in December. Video director Geoff Hoskinson has now brought us the new video he did for Sleepwalker's single, Dirty As Hell. It's the perfect track for a long car ride out on the open road. And after watching the video, I know need a shower. Or two. Check out Sleepwalker's bandcamp!

Anthony Jones is a concept artist/instructor based out of Irvine, CA who currently teaches conceptual creature development at Red Engine Studios with a lot of freelance work on the side. He's got a fantastic sense of form, value and light in his rendering, which gives his pieces a very tangible, sculptural feel. From seeing his process though I wouldn't be surprised if some of these pieces started with 3D sculpts as the foundation (He uses programs like Sculptris for some of his pieces). Check out a small selection of his work after the break!

This awesome little video was shot with a borrowed RED camera, which aside from the Phantom series is considered to be one of the best cameras for capturing high FPS footage. This usually results in beautifully fluid, tantalizing slow motion footage. I'd recommend ignoring choice of music, and focus on the fun these guys are having pulling off some really cool freerunning tricks in ridiculously cool slow motion.

Alberto is an Spanish artist based in L.A. and his works range from art direction for advertising, T.V. animated series and of course, painting nude girls. One of the most interesting things for me is that it would had never cross my mind that the same guy could be doing art for a Disney channel cartoon and be creating this really amazing paintings at the same time.

It might seem a little unfair to put this video instead of his other, more traditional line of work, but this little documentary is amazing in so many levels that it is for sure a really good way to display him as and artist and a person.

Feb 10, 2012

I've been waiting for a trailer from this movie for so long. The idea is simple, the ending is absolute, but the possibilities are endless. A meteoroid is falling towards earth and no Bruce Willis or Ben Ben Affleck double team will be able to save the world. Two weeks are left and a man named Dodge (Steve Carell) finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart accompanied by his neighbour, Penny (Keira Knightley) who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.

Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (the mastermind behind the genius and witty Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) this film is set to make you happy, upset, and afraid on such a realistic sitauation that most people think about because of some silly zombie plan. What WOULD happen if an object was about to crash into the earth and kill us all? I guess we'll find out in June 22th, 2012.

Considered in some musical circles as one of the break through albums of the 2011, Canadian acid folk music trio Timber Timbre fourth studio album is at least, the most visually compelling. With a couple of singles on videoclip format, Black Water is an all ears, all eyes travel to the depths of an emotional ocean.

Explodingmotorcar, the studio behind the direction and execution of this short animated video, has an extensive set of photographs documenting the behind the scenes process, with some incredible scale models, puppets, and a small underwater set. Definitely worth checking out.